Myth #9: Well Lifetime

Fact: A conventional well can produce gas for about 20 years or more, whereas most fracked wells will only produce commercial quantities of gas for 1-3 years.

According to Lord Oxburgh, former Chairman of Shell, “The flow rates of the majority of fracked shale gas wells halved in the first twelve months. 84% of fracking wells became uneconomic within just three years.

This is why companies have to keep drilling more and more wells just to stay in business.

“To recover 15% of shale gas in Lancashire would need 33,000 wells on 5,500 pads. To be independent of gas imports, we need to continue drilling 1,000 wells every year.” – Andy Aplin, Professor of Unconventional Petroleum at Durham University